Selina Smith’s fourth-grade class at Pottsville was awarded a $3,000 Commitment to Excellence Grant as a part of the Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) program.

“I applied for the grant at the beginning of summer break and was told I received the grant at the end of the summer,” Smith said. “My husband is an engineer at [Arkansas Nuclear One] ANO and he talks about a shortage of new engineers. I’ve made it a priority in my classroom to get kids excited about STEM. They love the hands-on learning that takes place in our classroom every day.”

Smith said she purchased science products such as a Van de Graaf generator, some bug vacuums, a walk-through heart and lung model, animal skulls and STEM kits with the grant money.

She also shared the grant money with Cheryl Prock’s sixth-grade science class so Prock could buy a “huge aquarium for her classroom” and hands-on resources for teaching about space.

The school recently conducted an Engineering Fest where Patricia Buford, Arkansas Tech University’s interim associate dean of engineering and associate professor of electrical engineering, answered students’ questions and asked them to consider a career in engineering.

Some of the 45 students who participated in Engineering Fest used two of the STEM kits Smith purchased with the grant money to design roller coasters and a spacecraft that were on display.

“STEM education is important for developing critical thinking, increasing science literacy and creating the next generation of innovators,” Smith said. “U.S. student achievement in mathematics and science is lagging behind other countries, so it’s important for teachers to make STEM education a priority in the classroom.”